Suspension for crusher shafts



2 April 1942- I s. w. TRAYLOR ETAL SUSPENSION FOR CRUSHER SHAFTS- FiledJa'nI 5,1941

3 wuMvbo z and J 1. 1 fla fizz Patented Apr. 7, 1942 zgraezs SUSPENSIONFOR CRUSHER SHAF TS samirel wgjlraylor and Charles H. Patten, Allen- 'Z;assignors to Traylor Engineering and acturing Company, Allentown, Pa., acorporation of Delaware Application January 3, 1941, Serial No. 373,044

7 Claims.

This invention relates to means for suspending vertical crusher shafts,such for example as gyratory crusher shafts.

An important object of my invention is to provide a supporting collaradapted to be detachably associated with the upper end of afverticalcrusher shaft and which is so constructed and arranged that the downwardpressure exerted by the shaft tends to effect disengagement of thecollar when it is desired to release the crusher shaft to free thecrusher of tramp metal or other material that may have become jammedinto the space between the crusher head and concave.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdetailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention,reference being had to the annexed drawing in which:

Figure l is a view of the upper end of agyratory crusher showing invertical cross-section the bearing for supporting the shaft for gyratorymotion;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of one of the collar sections; and

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the retainer cap for holding thesections of the collar in assembly with the shaft.

In Fig. 1 is illustrated the upper portion of a gyratory crusher whichis of the general type in which upright shaft l carrying the crusherverse relation. This type of yielding suspension forms the subject of aco-pending application of Richard Bernhard, Serial Number 246,246, now

Patent No, 2,218,783, granted October 22, 1940. A cylindrical shell I!)telescopes over and spans the space between the ring land the head ofsleeve 8 so as to provide a dust-tight casing about the cup-shapedelements 9.

The shaft l a short distance from its upper end is provided with acircumferential recess II, the upper side wall Ila of this recess beingslightly inclined in a direction extending upwardly and outwardly.Encircling the shaft is a collar l2 comprising a pair of independentsemicylindrical sections I2a of identical but reverse form. Each sectionhas an inwardly directed rib l3 upon its inner circumference adapted tofit within the recess II on the shaft, the upper surface l3a of this ribsloping upwardly and cut- 'wardly at the same inclination as theupperside wall 11a of the recess H. When the two sections of the collarare assembled about the shaft the interfitting rib and recess serve as asupport head (not shown) is rockingly supported at its upper end in aspider 2 bridging the top of the crusher frame, and the lower end ofthis shaft is moved through a circular path by eccentric means, such asis well-known in the art.

The upper end of the crusher shaft extends through a vertical openingcentrally provided in the spider, this opening being of enlargeddiameter adjacent its top and the two diameters of the opening beingconnected by a horizontal ledge 3. A bushing 4 is tightly fitted withinthe smaller diameter of the opening, having a fiat terminal flange 5overlying the ledge 3. A washer 6 loosely surrounding the shaft l restsupon the fiangs 5, its upper surface being of convex shape so as tocooperate with the concave lower surface of an overlying ring I, thewasher 6 and ring I forming companion parts of a swivel shaft-supportingbearing.

snugly encircling the shaft l is a sleeve 8 having an enlarged circularhead 8a. The lower end of the sleeve projects downwardly intothe ring 1,and between ,the head 8a and ring 'I are interposed a pair ofyieldingcup-shaped elements 9 composed of spring metal and arranged in refor theshaft, the inclined faces of the rib and recess resting in bearingcontact.

The outer circumference of the collar l2 tapers slightly outwardly in adownward direction,

and adapted to fit over these sections and maintain them in assemblywith the shaft is a retainer cap [4 which is internally tapered in adirection and at an angle complementary to the circumferential taper ofthe collar E2. The top of the cap is provided with an inwardly directedflange I5 adapted to overlie the upper end of the collar l2 when the capis associated with the collar,'and a series of'bolts [6 extendingthrough clearance openings in this flange and screwing into the collarsections serve to draw the cap tightly down over the collar and forcethe collar sections together around the. shaft.

Interposed between the collar l2 and the sleeve 8 are a plurality ofshims ll encircling the-shaft l, these shims being of differentthicknesses and being selected so as to support the shaft at any desiredelevation to obtain the proper clearance between the crusher head andconcave. These shims, eachof which is composed of two segmental halfsections, may be replaced by shims of other thicknessesto attain exactlythe right setting of the shaft and without the necessity,

of disturbing the collar and cap assembly. A series of jack screws l8extend vertically downwardly through screw-threaded openings in the capI 4, the lower ends of these screws footing upon the shims ll.

A-protective shield l9 fits.

looscly around the cap l4 and shims ll, this shield terminating slightlyabove the top of retainer M. A removable dome-shaped head 20 supportedupon the spider 2 encloses and provides a cover for the parts of theshaft suspen- SlOIl.

The shaft suspension just described is adapted to function as follows:In rock quarries and also in gravel pits, it sometimes happens thatpieces of tramp iron or steel accidentally find their way into thecrusher with the material to be crushed. The small pieces of tramp metalpass through the crusher and are reduced without damage to the machine;however, the larger fragments of such metal cannot be crushed andtherefore become jammed between the crusher head and concave, stoppingthe machine and often overstressing its parts. When the crusher jams,the tramp metal is gripped very tightly and it is dimcult to remove it.Another case in which difficulty is encountered is in starting themachine when the crushing chamber is full of stone. The load isfrequently too great for the ordinary motor to overcome in starting,making it necessary, heretofore, to remove the material from thecrushing chamber by hand before initiating a crushing operation.

By virtue of our shaft suspension, the crusher shaft is adapted to bequickly released with a minimum of time and labor to permit the crusherhead to descend and free the obstructing material from between thecrusher head and concave. To accomplish this, the head 20 is removed andan eyebolt (not shown) is screwed into an axial threaded opening in theupper end of the shaft I, this eyebolt being engaged with the hook of achain block or other type of overhead support. The bolts I6 are thenwithdrawn from the collar l2 and the jack screws l8 turned down againstthe shims H, which action forces the cap i4 upwardly over the collar 12.The pressure exerted by the combined weight of the shaft I and crusherhead upon the inclined upper surface of the rib 13 of the collar tendsto urge the collar sections Ila apart. If the angle of inclination ofthe coacting bearing faces Ila and [3a of the recess II and rib I3 isinsufficient to allow the downward pressure of the shaft toautomatically effect separation of the collar sections, then this mayreadily be accomplished by driving a tapered wedge into the jointbetween these sections to urge them apart, the shaft being permitted tosettle downwardly under the control of the chain block. After theobstructing material has fallen free or has been forced fromthe'crushing chamber. the shaft is raised by the chain block, the collarsectio'ns [2a reassembled about the shaft, and the cap l4 screwedtightly down over the collar by means of the bolts l6.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that we have provideda suspension for vertical crusher shafts which obviates the use ofthreaded nuts, the threads of which frequently become mutilatedorcorroded which causes the nuts to freeze to the shaft and resistremoval; and that we have devised a suspension which affords a readilyreleasable connection between the supporting collar and shaft due to thespreading action exerted by the shaft upon the collar. Furthermore, theshims by reason of being made in half sections. may be assembled withthe shaft to obtain precise adjustment of the crusher head with respectto the concave, To, do this it is unnecessary to dismantle thesuspension but by simpl raising the shaft slightly shim sections ofdesired thickness may be introduced between the sleeve 8 and the collar[2.

It should be understood that it is not desired to limit the invention tothe exact details of construction herein shown and described, forobvious modifications within the scope of the claims may occur topersons skilled in the art.

We claim:

1. A support for a vertical crusher shaft comprising a collar composedof a plurality of independent sections adapted to encircle the upper endof said shaft, an interfitting circumferential rib and recess connectionbetween the shaft and collar, said rib and recess having inclined facesin bearing contact such that the downward pressure exerted by the shafttends to force said sections apart to release the shaft, and removablemeans for holding the collar sections in assembly with the shaft.

2. A support for a vertical crusher shaft comprising a collar composedof a plurality of independent sections adapted to encircle the shaft. arib upon the inner circumference of said collar and receivable within arecess extending about the outer circumference of the shaft, thecoacting bearing races of the rib and the upper side wall of the recessbeing inclined outwardly and upwardly, whereby the downward pressureexerted by the shaft tends to force said sections apart to release theshaft, and a removable retainer member encircling the collar for holdingthe sections in assembly with the shaft.

3. A support for a vertical crusher shaft comprising a collar composedof a plurality of independent sections adapted to encircle the shaft, arib extending about the inner circumference of said collar andreceivable within a recess extending about the outer circumference ofthe shaft, said collar being circumferentially tapered downwardly andoutwardly, the upper surface of the rib and the upper side wall of therecess being inclined outwardly and upwardly, whereby the downwardpressure exerted by the shaft tends to force said sections apart torelease the shaft, and a removable retainer member encircling the collarand having its inner circumference tapered complementary to the taper ofthe collar so as to flt thereover and hold the sections in assembly withthe shaft.

4. A support for a vertical crusher shaft comprising a. collar composedof a plurality of independent sections adapted to encircle the shaft. arib extending about the inner circumference of said collar andreceivable within a recess extending about the outer circumference ofthe shaft, said collar being circumferentially tapered downwardly andoutwardly, the upper surface of the rib and the upper side wall of therecess being inclined outwardly and upwardly, whereby the pressureexerted by the shaft tends to force said sections apart to release theshaft, a removabl retainer member encircling the collar and having itsinner circumference tapered complementary to the taper of the collar soas to fit thereover and hold the sections in assembly with the shaft,said retainer member having a top overlying the collar, and boltsextending through said top and threadedly engaging openings in thecollar for drawing the retainer member downwardly onto the collar.

5. A support for a vertical crusher shaft comprising a collar composedof a plurality of independent sections adapted to encircle the shaft, arib extending about the inner circumference of said collar andreceivable within a recess extending about the circumference of theshaftfor supporting the shaft, said collar being circumferentially tapereddownwardly and outwardly, the

upper surface of the rib and the upper side wall of the recess beinginclined outwardly and upwardly, whereby the pressure exerted by theshaft tends to force said sections apart to release the shaft, aretainer member encircling the collar and having its inner circumferencetapered complementary to the taper of the collar so as to fit thereoverand hold the sections in assembly with the shaft, said retainer memberhaving a top overlying the collar, and bolts extending through said topandthreadedly engaging openings in the collar for drawing the retainermember downwardly onto the collar, and jack screws inclined faces inbearing contact such that the downward pressure exerted by the shafttends to force said sections apart to release the shaft,

and removable means for holding the collar sections in assembly with theshaft. t

7. In a vertical crusher including an u'prigh crusher shaft adapted tosupport a crusher head, a collar adapted to encircle the upper part ofsaid shaft and composed of a plurality of independent segmental sectionsadapted to encircle the upper end of said shaft, an interfittingcircumferential rib and .recess connection between the shaft and collar,said rib and recess having inclined faces in bearing contact such thatthe downward pressure exerted by the shaft tends to force said sectionsapart to release the shaft,

means for holding the collar sections in assembly with the shaft, and aplurality of shims of different thicknesses underlying and supportingthe collar, said shims each being composed of a pair 'of segmental halfsections to permit their lateral assembly with the shaft. SAMUEL W.TRAYLOR.

CHARLES H. PATTEN.

the shaft and collar, said rib and recess having

